Roger looked at his fallen comrades scattered everywhere. Many of them were dead, but some were still alive.
He had ended his demon form and his fusion fruit state. Now he was back to his original self, sitting weakly on the ground.
He breathed heavily. The previous fight had drained a lot of his strength and left him with serious injuries. Seeing this scene now hit him hard mentally too.
"Pluto is in my hands. If you want to talk, come find me at The Black Order headquarters."
A line of words written in blood appeared before Roger's eyes. His heart slowly calmed down and grew steady.
"Sorry. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have faced that demon lord."
Suddenly, Number One's voice came from in front of him.
Number One slowly lowered his head, his eyes showing a bit of sadness. Roger didn't look up. He just sat on the ground, staring ahead.
"No, this was my choice from the start," Roger said. "Even without you, we would have come here."
On a sea voyage, how could there be no deaths?
Roger's pirate crew could only be called a former main character group. They couldn't compare to the true main character, Luffy.
Luffy could sail from the start to the end without losing a single crew member. Every time he faced enemies, he never killed them. That was his unique luck.
From the time Roger set sail until now, the people around him were naturally not the same group. He had seen too many deaths, but this was the first time he suffered such a devastating defeat.
Even Rayleigh had been captured!
The Black Order...
Roger's mind flashed back to that woman's figure again. She handled Aatrox with ease. Though she said it was because she watched his fight and struck when Aatrox got careless, Roger still thought she was unfathomable.
World Government, where did they find such a strong fighter?
Negative feelings built up in Roger's heart, perhaps partly due to his demon form.
But life always involves failures.
Maybe only after a heartbreaking failure can someone grow much faster.
Fewer than five people survived. Luckily, the Marines seemed to have given them basic treatment before leaving.
Especially Gaban. His injuries were so bad he was nearly dead. If the Marines hadn't treated him some, he would have died.
"..." Number One walked to Roger's side and said softly, "You showed me human courage. Turns out a demon lord isn't unbeatable. You're an amazing man..."
"Please let me follow you, to make up for my cowardice!"
Roger glanced at Number One, then slowly stood up.
"Of course. You're the demon scholar I had in mind!"
His eyes grew firm, like he was back to normal. He should have had every bone in his body shattered, only able to move barely with the power of the Shikon Jewel fragment. But now, even with such heavy wounds, they were mostly healed.
And as time passed, more people would surely come here. Staying longer wasn't smart.
"Let's go back to the Ascension Altar first," Number One said. "Don't resist. I'll take everyone with us."
Roger nodded, and in the next moment, the space shifted.
Instant teleport?
Roger had only been in this country a short time and didn't know their abilities. This was his first time seeing instant movement, and his eyes showed a bit of surprise.
They were back in the Ascension Altar. Shanks was quietly sleeping on a platform.
His comrades had all been brought inside too. Roger looked up at the sun disk high above and said in surprise, "This... what's going on?"
The sun disk had been mostly black before, but now the black parts were gone, leaving only gold.
The Shikon Jewel fragment was at the core of the sun disk, giving off a strange light, as if it had driven away the darkness.
"After Aatrox absorbed everyone, the darkness on the sun disk vanished. It must have been taken in by Aatrox's return," Number One said. "Now, destroying it is no problem."
"From now on, this Ascension Altar will become history."
With that, he raised his hand. The Shikon Jewel fragment at the core of the sun disk was pushed out and fell gently into Number One's hand.
Number One held the Shikon Jewel fragment and let its power shine on the wounded. The people who had only gotten basic treatment from the Marines saw their injuries lighten, though they were still unconscious.
"Take this Shikon Jewel fragment as a thank-you gift before I join your crew."
After doing all that, Number One said to Roger and tossed the fragment to him.
Roger caught it on instinct. He clenched his fist, and in the next moment, three Shikon Jewel fragments appeared from his body.
Those were the ones his fusion fruit had absorbed. But he couldn't keep using the fusion fruit's power forever.
Now that these three fragments appeared, they merged with the one from Number One. The small fragments grew much bigger.
"By count, there should be dozens of fragments, right?" Roger said. "If I can get more than ten, I'm sure I can beat that Aatrox!"
The Shikon Jewel fragments were indeed great. After this unprecedented big failure, he craved power more than ever. These fragments were undoubtedly the fastest way to get stronger.
"So let's go collect them. Aatrox hasn't gone back to hell yet. Work hard to beat him!" Number One patted Roger's shoulder.
They found a spot and buried the dead underground.
After a solemn farewell, the whole Ascension Altar suddenly shook. The surrounding stone walls began to collapse, the high altar started to crumble, and explosions happened everywhere.
Number One set off the bombs hidden in the Ascension Altar. The ancient building fell apart under the blasts and collapsed with a boom.
In the deep cave, sounds of explosions and sparks kept coming.
Roger and Number One watched the chain of blasts ahead. In front of them were the graves of several of Roger's crew members. Now, they would rest here forever as the Ascension Altar collapsed around them.
"Let's go, Number One."
From this moment on, Roger put away all his hesitation. He knew more important things awaited them next.
If he got stuck on the past, he couldn't call himself a free warrior of the sea.
"I've given up that name."
Behind Number One, the unconscious people floated up with his mind power, following the two out of the cave.
"Call me Mumei."
----
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